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Two Potential Dangers

Two Potential Dangers

     Many similarities exist between the physical family and spiritual family.  These similarities become more evident as one gets closer to spiritual maturity.  One similarity that occasionally manifests itself in both families is the difference of views between the older and younger members of the family.  The gap between what parents want for their children, and what children want for themselves, has been the source of many family feuds.   Children have their own ideas of what should be, and the parents likewise.  In the physical family, many disagreements stem from the kids’ immaturity.  Interestingly, the spiritual family follows suit.
     Anyone who has experienced parenthood realizes how whimsical children can be.  There is just something about youth that causes kids to be very impulsive, switching from one fascination to the next with great rapidity and frequency.  For instance, a stroll with your 7-year-old past the toy section of Wal-Mart or Target (mere days after Christmas) is sure to reveal yet another “favorite toy” that has somehow dethroned the other “favorite toy” the child just opened on Christmas morning!  


     Teens exemplify the same condition, as they move from trend to trend and from latest fashion to latest fashion.  Sometimes, to display their great knowledge of the latest fashions, teens will use the phrase: “Oh, that’s so five minutes ago!”  Parents can hardly keep up with all their new likes and wants--not to mention the cost of those desires!
     Such fickle behavior is not unique to the physically young, though.  It also affects the spiritually young.  The apostle Paul alluded to such volatility when he was discussing the reason Christ gave the first century church miraculous, spiritual gifts (Eph. 4:11-16).  He said Christ supplied the church with those spiritual gifts so “that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine...” (Eph. 4:14a).  In other words, Christ wanted the church to be equipped with the tools that would bring them to the point where they were not always seeking some “new” and “exciting” false doctrine.   
     In the late 90s, I was a member of a congregation which split because a sizable group of members wanted to ‘modernize’ our worship (by adding drama, singing during communion, etc.) to make it more “meaningful.”  To them, “change” was where ‘meaning’ was to be found, rather than in the devotion of the heart of the worshipper.  Can you guess which group wanted this new change?  That’s right! It was the younger group (25-mid 40s).  They accused our elders and older members of being traditionalists and not worshipping from the heart...since our worship was the same every week.
     This brings me to the title of this article: Two Potential Dangers.  Whenever these differences of views arise concerning worship, both groups (older and younger) need to take extra special care to make sure they do not fall into their respective errors: desiring unauthorized change in worship, and allowing their worship to become insincerely rote.

     To a Samaritan woman, our Lord said, “God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth” (John 4:24)  This verse is significant because it addresses the three aspects of acceptable worship: the correct object (God), the correct manner (in spirit) and the correct form (in truth).  To worship God “in spirit” means to worship Him “rationally and sincerely” (Woods, 83). In other words, the worship is intentional, purposed and calculated from a submissive spirit.  To worship ‘in truth’ means that the worship finds its form in the Word of God (Jn. 17:17; Col. 3:17).

     It may be true that older Christians sometimes allow their worship to become insincere (i.e., doing it out of habit instead of really meditating on the respective acts of worship); and such is not acceptable to God.  However, insincere worship is not something that can be identified by simply observing a group of people perform the same acts of worship every week.  In contrast, though, it is easy to determine when people have changed the form of God’s worship, and are, thus, no longer worshipping “in truth.” God has prescribed only so many acts of worship to be included in a worship assembly, and He is not impressed nor pleased with our creative powers (Revelations 22:18-19; Proverbs 30:6).

     May God help us to never tire of trying to serve Him acceptably (Hebrews 12:28b); and may we never forget the distinct (and very real) possibility that God may reject our worship upon the basis that it does not fit the correct manner or form (cf. Matt. 15:1-9; Gen. 4:5). Let us love one another and strive for spiritual maturity!

     Works Cited

     Woods, Guy N. A Commentary on the Gospel of John. Nashville: Gospel Advocate Company, 1989.